Celebrate Cat Day in Japan with these delicious cat doughnuts from Ikumi Mama Animal Doughnuts

February 22 is Cat Day in Japan, so Ikumi Mama Animal Doughnuts is making delicious, adorable cat doughnuts. And we got some!

Yes, February 22 is Ninja Day, but it’s also Cat Day in Japan (though International Cat Day is actually August 8)! At first, we weren’t sure if we should be happy or sad that two of our favorite things are celebrated on one day — but now that we know doughnuts are involved, it’s smiles all around!

▼ The mood of the RocketNews24 office, in a single photo

You may be wondering what doughnuts have to do with cats. If we’re being totally honest, we suppose that, in general, there isn’t much of a connection between them, aside from both being categories of things we love. At least, that’s what we would have said until we met Ikumi Mama and her animal doughnuts shop!

Ikumi Mama Animal Doughnuts (“Ikumimam no Dobutsu Donatsu,” as the shop is known in Japanese) has been around for a while and has gained quite a bit of popularity in Japan thanks to the adorable animal doughnuts they produce. One look should be all you need to fall in love with these cute pastry creations, but in case you need more, we have plenty of photos to get your stomach rumbling!

▼ Maybe not too cute to eat…but just about!

Ikumi Mama is the eponymous owner and creator of the doughnuts shop, and she has plenty of experience crafting treats that will make you squeal with delight both before and after eating. And this week, her shop is running a limited-time event in celebration of Cat Day in Japan!

▼ Cat Day is easily the best holiday ever, right?

The event is only two days long — and the first day was Sunday! Fortunately, if you’re in Tokyo or Kanagawa this Monday (February 22), there’s time for you to head to Jiyugaoka in Meguro or Motosumiyoshi in Kawasaki! For “Super Nyanko Day,” all the doughnuts in the shops will be cat doughnuts and there are 13 different types for you to stuff in your mouth!

We sent one of our Japanese writers on a grueling mission to Jiyugaoka to get try some doughnuts and report back what she found. As you can imagine, it took a lot of convincing, but Sachi was a real trooper and pulled through!

The store was, as we mentioned before, full of nothing but cat doughnuts instead of the range of animal doughnuts, from cows to frogs, they usually feature. Unable to decide from the range of the kitty creations, which had names like Maruchan and Mike, Sachi just ordered one of each of the thirteen versions, which cost her 3840 yen (about US$34.11). She also got to choose the facial expression that each cat had, making for a truly personalized experience.

Doughnuts in hand, Sachi headed home and got to work tasting all those doughnuts. Though it broke her heart to nibble on their adorable faces, she found them absolutely delicious! The writer told us the doughnuts weren’t too rich or too sweet, so you could easily eat a whole box. She also pointed out that the pastries were made without additives and used domestically produced ingredients.

▼ And it turns out their ears are made of almonds!

In addition to getting some cute, tasty pastries, your purchase at Ikumi Mama Animal Doughnuts also goes towards making the world a better place for cats — for each doughnut sold, they apparently donate 1 yen to an NPO that rescues orphaned dogs and cats. And now you have a great excuse to buy as many doughnuts as you can afford!

Of course, Ikumi Mama Animal Doughnuts is pretty popular, so we’re going to go out on a limb and suggest that you might face long lines if you’re trying to stop by for the Cat Day event. But considering we’re talking about cat doughnuts, we’d also have to say it’s probably worth the wait!